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Entry: The Pragmatism of Russell Kirk Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/the_pragmatism_of_russell_kirk#3597 Post contents: Paul Gottfried writes: "it seems to me that that it may be hard hard to find an articulated philosophical statement in Kirk, of the kind that I find in Peirce and Dr. Purcell." There's no know need for "it seems to me" or even "may be hard to find." There is no articulated philosophical statement in Kirk. But that same criticism has been leveled, often rightly, at most of the British conservative tradition. In pointing out Kirk's unabashed preference for that tradition, I, in fact, had this in mind. Part of the reason that I fall between Kirk and Paul on these questions is that I do perceive a failure of Kirk on this point--or rather, the fact that Kirk himself was not enough. On the other hand, as John Lukacs likes to say, we're living in an age where it's constantly necessary for us to restate the obvious. And the modern (and particularly the American) imagination is so degraded that Kirk's emphasis on the imagination (to the detriment of articulated philosophy) strikes me as far from the worst way to approach the problem. Sid writes, "Mind you, I do like Kirk. I just wish he were more Continental. Newman’s a good mixture of both." But then Kirk wouldn't be Kirk. And some of us who knew him would find that a rather melancholy prospect. Sent at: 2008 12 01